Mencius Chapter 8

1. Mencius went from Ch'î to Lû to bury his mother. On his
return to Ch'î, he stopped at Ying, where Ch'ung Yü begged to
put a question to him, and said, 'Formerly, in ignorance of my
incompetency, you employed me to superintend the making of the coffin. As
you were then pressed by the urgency of the business, I did not venture to
put any question to you. Now, however, I wish to take the liberty to submit
the matter. The wood of the coffin, it appeared to me, was too good.'

2. Mencius replied, 'Anciently, there was no rule for the size of either
the inner or the outer coffin. In middle antiquity, the inner coffin was
made seven inches thick, and the outer one the same. This was done by all,
from the sovereign to the common people, and not simply for the beauty of
the appearance, but because they thus satisfied the natural feelings of
their hearts.

3. 'If prevented by statutory regulations from making their coffins in
this way, men cannot have the feeling of pleasure. If they have not the
money to make them in this way, they cannot have the feeling of pleasure.
When they were not prevented, and had the money, the ancients all used this
style. Why should I alone not do so?

4. 'And moreover, is there no satisfaction to the natural feelings of
a man, in preventing the earth from getting near to the bodies of his
dead?

5. 'I have heard that the superior man will not for all the world be
niggardly to his parents.'

1. Shan T'ung, on his own impulse, asked Mencius, saying, 'May Yen be
smitten?' Mencius replied, 'It may. Tsze-k'wâi had no right to give
Yen to another man, and Tsze-chih had no right to receive Yen from
Tsze-k'wâi. Suppose there were an officer here, with whom you, Sir,
were pleased, and that, without informing the king, you were privately to
give to him your salary and rank; and suppose that this officer, also
without the king's orders, were privately to receive them from you-- would
such a transaction be allowable? And where is the difference between the
case of Yen and this?'

2. The people of Ch'î smote Yen. Some one asked Mencius, saying,
'Is it really the case that you advised Ch'î to smite Yen?' He
replied, 'No. Shan T'ung asked me whether Yen might be smitten, and I
answered him, "It may." They accordingly went and smote it. If he had asked
me-- "Who may smite it?" I would have answered him, "He who is the minister
of Heaven may smite it." Suppose the case of a murderer, and that one asks
me-- "May this man be put to death?" I will answer him-- "He may." If he
ask me-- "Who may put him to death?" I will answer him, "The chief criminal
judge may put him to death." But now with one Yen to smite another Yen:--
how should I have advised this?'

1. The people of Yen having rebelled, the king of Ch'î said, 'I
feel very much ashamed when I think of Mencius.'

2. Ch'an Chiâ said to him, 'Let not your Majesty be grieved.
Whether does your Majesty consider yourself or Châu-kung the more
benevolent and wise?' The king replied, 'Oh! what words are those?' 'The
duke of Châu,' said Chiâ, 'appointed Kwan-shû to oversee
the heir of Yin, but Kwan-shû with the power of the Yin State
rebelled. If knowing that this would happen he appointed Kwan-shû, he
was deficient in benevolence. If he appointed him, not knowing that it
would happen, he was deficient in knowledge. If the duke of Châu was
not completely benevolent and wise, how much less can your Majesty be
expected to be so! I beg to go and see Mencius, and relieve your Majesty
from that feeling.'

3. Ch'an Chiâ accordingly saw Mencius, and asked him, saying,
'What kind of man was the duke of Châu?' 'An ancient sage,' was the
reply. 'Is it the fact, that he appointed Kwan-shû to oversee the
heir of Yin, and that Kwan-shû with the State of Yin rebelled?' 'It
is.' 'Did the duke of Châu. know that he would rebel, and purposely
appoint him to that office?' Mencius said, 'He did not know.' 'Then, though
a sage, he still fell into error?' 'The duke of Châu,' answered
Mencius, 'was the younger brother. Kwan-shû was his elder brother.
Was not the error of Châu-kung in accordance with what is right?

4. 'Moreover, when the superior men of old had errors, they reformed
them. The superior men of the present time, when they have errors, persist
in them. The errors of the superior men of old were like eclipses of the sun
and moon. All the people witnessed them, and when they had reformed them,
all the people looked up to them with their former admiration. But do the
superior men of the present day only persist in their errors? They go on to
apologize for them likewise.'

1. Mencius gave up his office, and made arrangements for returning
to his native State.

2. The king came to visit him, and said, 'Formerly, I wished to see you,
but in vain. Then, I got the opportunity of being by your side, and all my
court joyed exceedingly along with me. Now again you abandon me, and are
returning home. I do not know if hereafter I may expect to have another
opportunity of seeing you.' Mencius replied, 'I dare not request permission
to visit you at any particular time, but, indeed, it is what I
desire.'

3. Another day, the king said to the officer Shih, 'I wish to give
Mencius a house, somewhere in the middle of the kingdom, and to support his
disciples with an allowance of 10,000 chung, that all the officers and the
people may have such an example to reverence and imitate. Had you not
better tell him this for me?'

4. Shih took advantage to convey this message by means of the disciple
Ch'an, who reported his words to Mencius.

5. Mencius said, 'Yes; but how should the officer Shih know that the
thing could not be? Suppose that I wanted to be rich, having formerly
declined 100,000 chung, would my now accepting 10,000 be the conduct of one
desiring riches?

6. 'Chî-sun said, "A strange man was Tsze-shû Î. He
pushed himself into the service of government. His prince declining to
employ him, he had to retire indeed, but he again schemed that his son or
younger brother should be made a high officer. Who indeed is there of men
but wishes for riches and honour? But he only, among the seekers of these,
tried to monopolize the conspicuous mound.

7. '"Of old time, the market-dealers exchanged the articles which they
had for others which they had not, and simply had certain officers to keep
order among them. It happened that there was a mean fellow, who made it a
point to look out for a conspicuous mound, and get up upon it. Thence he
looked right and left, to catch in his net the whole gain of the market.
The people all thought his conduct mean, and therefore they proceeded to
lay a tax upon his wares. The taxing of traders took its rise from this
mean fellow."'

1. Mencius, having taken his leave of Ch'î, was passing the night
in Châu.

2. A person who wished to detain him on behalf of the king, came and sat
down, and began to speak to him. Mencius gave him no answer, but leant upon
his stool and slept.

3. The visitor was displeased, and said, 'I passed the night in careful
vigil, before I would venture to speak to you, and you, Master, sleep and
do not listen to me. Allow me to request that I may not again presume to
see you.' Mencius replied, 'Sit down, and I will explain the case clearly
to you. Formerly, if the duke Mû had not kept a person by the side of
Tsze-sze, he could not have induced Tsze-sze to remain with him. If Hsieh
Liû and Shan Hsiang had not had a remembrancer by the side of the
duke Mû, he would not have been able to make them feel at home and
remain with him.

4. 'You anxiously form plans with reference to me, but you do not treat
me as Tsze-sze was treated. Is it you, Sir, who cut me? Or is it I who cut
you?

1. When Mencius had left Ch'î, Yin Shih spoke about him to others,
saying, 'If he did not know that the king could not be made a T'ang or a
Wû, that showed his want of intelligence. If he knew that he could
not be made such, and came notwithstanding, that shows he was seeking his
own benefit. He came a thousand lî to wait on the king; because he
did not find in him a ruler to suit him, he took his leave, but how
dilatory and lingering was his departure, stopping three nights before he
quitted Châu! I am dissatisfied on account of this.'

2. The disciple Kâo informed Mencius of these remarks.

3. Mencius said, 'How should Yin Shih know me! When I came a thousand
lî to wait on the king, it was what I desired to do. When I went away
because I did not find in him a ruler to suit me, was that what I desired
to do? I felt myself constrained to do it.

4. 'When I stopped three nights before I quitted Châu, in my own
mind I still considered my departure speedy. I was hoping that the king
might change. If the king had changed, he would certainly have recalled
me.

5. 'When I quitted Châu, and the king had not sent after me, then,
and not till then, was my mind resolutely bent on returning to Tsâu.
But, notwithstanding that, how can it be said that I give up the king? The
king, after all, is one who may be made to do what is good. If he were to
use me, would it be for the happiness of the people of Ch'î only ? It
would be for the happiness of the people of the whole kingdom. I am hoping
that the king will change. I am daily hoping for this.

6. 'Am I like one of your little-minded people? They will remonstrate
with their prince, and on their remonstrance not being accepted, they get
angry; and, with their passion displayed in their countenance, they take
their leave, and travel with all their strength for a whole day, before
they will stop for the night.'

7. When Yin Shih heard this explanation, he said, 'I am indeed a small
man.'

1. When Mencius left Ch'î, Ch'ung Yü questioned him upon the
way, saying, 'Master, you look like one who carries an air of
dissatisfaction in his countenance. But formerly I heard you say-- "The
superior man does not murmur against Heaven, nor grudge against men."'

2. Mencius said, 'That was one time, and this is another.

3. 'It is a rule that a true royal sovereign should arise in the course
of five hundred years, and that during that time there should be men
illustrious in their generation.

4. 'From the commencement of the Châu dynasty till now, more than
seven hundred years have elapsed. Judging numerically, the date is past.
Examining the character of the present time, we might expect the rise of
such individuals in it.

5. 'But Heaven does not yet wish that the kingdom should enjoy
tranquillity and good order. If it wished this, who is there besides me to
bring it about? How should I be otherwise than dissatisfied?'

1. When Mencius left Ch'î, he dwelt in Hsiû. There Kung-sun
Ch'âu asked him, saying, 'Was it the way of the ancients to hold
office without receiving salary?'

2. Mencius replied, 'No; when I first saw the king in Ch'ung, it was my
intention, on retiring from the interview, to go away. Because I did not
wish to change this intention, I declined to receive any salary.

3. 'Immediately after, there came orders for the collection of troops,
when it would have been improper for me to beg permission to leave. But to
remain so long in Ch'î was not my purpose.'